Four Wheelers

[Woody]

Since my trees are scattered in a lot of different wood lots I'll be hauling an ATV, trailer and tank around. What brands have you guys had good luck with? I'm thinking about a 500 HO Sportsman.

thanks

[michelle32]

If it was me I would go with an argo insted of a wheeler. They go through mud and snow much better.

[Cabinet man]

I use an Arctic Cat 650 V-twin with a clutch kit. Love it. We will be using Dad's Polaris Ranger this year. We are expanding and will need the extra power and stability.

[Farmboy]

One of my friends has a sportsman 800 and it is a beast its 2 cylinder and it can hit 75 even though its a work quad and it pulls good to. My uncle has the grizzly 660 or 700 that is a beast too. It has power steering. Whatever you get put a winch on it.

[PARKER MAPLE]

Last Season I Bought A Polaris Ranger 700 Efi. I Put Two 55 Gallon Drums In The Back And This Thing Pulled It Good. I Will Altough Tell You That This Year I Will Be Installing A Winch. When Im Located We Sometime Get Deep Snow Drifts And The Ranger Is Extreamly Heavy Like 1100lbs. So Theres No Pushing Or Pulling It By Hand When Your Stuck. But I Noticed Last Season That After You Get A Trail Broke And You Stay On It You Are In Good Shape. Hope This Helps.
Maple Rookie

[3rdgen.maple]

Polaris is the heaviest machines because the imports have weight restrictions on them for shipping purposes. Articcat's powertrains are made by suzuki. I personally don't like all the plastic on them. My brother has had alot of electrical problems with his cat. I have a suzuki with the same exact motor as his but I went with a geared tranny instead of a belt drive, which most all of the choices now are belt driven. The only problem I have had is carb related. It is a Mukini carb which is what is on most of them. Look into specific things to meet your needs. Ground clearance for getting through the snow and mud is a plus. Independant suspension is nice for the ride factor but load capacity is less. Check out payload and towing capacities. Look at the tire sizes as well. I would definately go with 4 wheel drive. Utv's are nice as well but are a little tipsy and are bigger so they limit places you can go. I have a neihgbor who has a yamaha and a polaris utv and have seen them tip both of them over. My brain always tells me the bigger the motor the better. When I bought mine 500 was the big boy. Now it is the little guy. I would consider what the closest dealer sells so you will not have to go long distances to get it service.
All in all it is another ford dodge chevy thing.

[Russell Lampron]

I have a Honda Foreman 450 and a Rancher 350. I pull a trailer with two 35 gallon tanks on it with the Foreman for gathering sap. I also use the Foreman for twitching logs and plowing snow. I have also used it to get my doodlebug and my son in laws truck unstuck. I use both for working in the woods. Both have been trouble free machines. Like someone else said get a winch for it too.

[chrisnjake9]

I've had them all, I bleed honda red they're not the fastest and they don't have the best suspension, but as far as being dependable they are great.

[Fred Henderson]

Kubota RTV with a track in place of each wheel. 3 feet of snow is no problem in just 2 wheel drive.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

The Kubota RTVs Fred mentioned will haul either 800 or 1100 lbs in the bed, been a couple of years since I looked at them. The come with a diesel engine unless you get the new smaller 500 that has a gas engine and have a steel strong box frame and with proper care should outlast an atv by far and do way more work. The towing capacity is aporx 1100 lbs I believe and it weighs about 1700 lbs if my memory serves me correctly.

[Dan W]

I have an '01 Yamaha 400 Kodiak. It has somewhere around 7000 miles on it. 6000 of them are hard trail miles and it has never left me down. It is not a fast machine but certainly serves it's purpose. Belt drive auto with high and low range means you are always in the right gear. I collect with 2 55 gallon drums on a trailer with 4x8 tires and have not gotten stuck yet. However, I am on relatively flat ground. I will probably be looking at a new one next summer and will most likely stay in the 500cc range, Yamaha for sure. I have gotten it stuck in some pretty deep mud holes and a winch does come in handy. Plus i use it to lift my plow. Come on spring!!!

[Bucket Head]

I'm with Dan. I have an '03 400 Kodiak. Not one problem! A great machine!

It will pull anything in low range. I too worried about the belt drive versus the geared trannies. Its a non-issue. Your tires will spin before you do damage to any trans. part. They are stronger than what people think. If anything, like a sled, maybe a burned belt? A new belt is cheaper than any part in a gear/clutch/shifter tranny.

I don't haul sap with mine, but it would do it without a problem if I had to. I use it to pull our homemade woodsplitter, which outweighs the wheeler by I don't know what(!!!), and has no trouble.

The only concern I have, and the sap haulers should consider this too, is the ability to stop what your hauling. Snow and mud does'nt make for good braking. Be reasonable when sizing your tank or figuring how many barrels to put on the trailer.

Steve

[HobbitMannor]

We have a Kawaski mule that we have a portable tank we can put in the back and a foreman 400...they are the basic transportation to the sugar house.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have to agree on the Yamaha Kodiak being a good machine as I have a 2003 Kodiak 450, but mine has less than 700 miles on it, but has never let me down and is a good machine and looks about as good as it did when I bought it, so it hasn't been worked much.

[kirkhedding]

I use a Polaris Sportsman 500 H.O. It's a great machine and I use it with a trailer and 2- 55 gal. drums. I get a lot of mud where i'm at, so i've been looking at a used John Deere 6 wheeler. This gives you about 1600lbs bed capacity, 4 wheels under the bed for weight distribution and they have the widest tires. Hope it would not sink as much with this set up.
Kirk

[Revi]

I guess you can get a log arch and drag wood out with a four wheeler.

I don't have the money for one, so I think I'll just keep using my DR Powerwagon. It cost a fraction of a four wheeler and I can get a lot of wood on it that I can take back to the sugarhouse.

http://www.ruralcompanion.com/powerwagon.html

[PARKER MAPLE]

The Kubota RTVs Fred mentioned will haul either 800 or 1100 lbs in the bed, been a couple of years since I looked at them. The come with a diesel engine unless you get the new smaller 500 that has a gas engine and have a steel strong box frame and with proper care should outlast an atv by far and do way more work. The towing capacity is aporx 1100 lbs I believe and it weighs about 1700 lbs if my memory serves me correctly.

ACTUALLY JUST USED AN RTV TODAY FOR WORK THEY ARE NICE BUT EXTREAMLY HEAVY, IT SAID 3400LB ON THE TAG. UNBELIEVABLE. ALSO TOP SPEED IS 27. THIS WAS THE DIESEL MODEL. IT WIL HUAL 1100 IN THE BED. THA RANGER WILL HAUL 1000 IN THE BED. BOTH HAVE A DUMP BODY AND ALMOST THE SAME GROUND CLEARANCE, BUT THE DOWN FALL IS THE RTV IS APPRX 17000.00 AND THE RANGER WAS 10500, THATS WHAT MADE UP MY MIND.

[MartinP]

01 Polaris 500 HO with a trailer and 55 gal barrel. Its been a good machine. Use it for plowing in the winter. One of those new ranger HD's side by side would be perfect. 1000lbs in bed and it will tow 2000.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

It must be a new model, I priced on about a year ago and the RTV with about the same specs was around $ 10,500 to $ 11,000

[DS Maple]

For sap hauling I would certainly lean toward something heavier and geared lower. You're probably not going to go 50mph with a big tank on the back. We have a Polaris Ranger 500 4x4 and in my opinion it's not as good as advertised. I've had a 125 gallon horizontal tank in the back filled right to capacity and to say the least it's a little scary drving with that. The frame isn't that heavy either and I always worry about breaking something with that much weight. Last year I put the tank on a trailer and dragged it around with a tractor instead, which worked pretty well. Certainly not as easy to turn around as the Ranger though.

If I was going to get a new utility vehicle of choice though (and money was no option,) I would buy the a Bobcat Toolcat 5600. I think it's got a 56hp turbocharged diesel, 4wd and 4-wheel-steering, plus the ability to handle 40 something attachments on the front loader assembly. Not to mention a heated cab and really good lighting. I haven't priced one of these out, but I don't imagine they are real cheap.

[3rdgen.maple]

When I got my suzuki I went with gears for 2 reasons. 1- I own snowmobiles and an additional 70 dollars a year for a new belt per machine can add up. The belt drives are nice but they require more maintenance aside from regular oil changes in the tranny. Clutch plates get glazed and need to be cleaned so the belts do not slip. I do alot of trail riding with a few buddies and on more than one accasion when one of them has to get on the brakes hard and the tires grip the belts explode from the pressure. So I would recomend a spare and now how to change one on the trail. Im sure this is not the norm if you are not hard on a machine. 2nd reason My tranny has 12 gears. 5 granny gears and five high. 1 reverse granny and 1 reverse high. Gears are nice when you are hauling, towing or trying to get out of a mudhole as you can stay in a low gear and keep the rpm's up. It is impossible to keep the rpm's up on a belt drive without adding rpm's to the tires.
Now I would also ask myself if I was to spend $8000 dollars plus on a new wheeler would it be better to get a nice used tractor that will serve the purpose better for hauling sap.

[Father & Son]

I have a 03 Polaris Sportsman 500 HO. Dependability wise only maintenance other than routine has been 2 cv joint boots and a drive belt. It has alittle over 4000 miles on it without any other problems. Doesn't do well in deep snow. It really depends on your terrain. Everything has its limitations.

Jim

[PoorFarmFarmer]

Kubota RTV with a track in place of each wheel. 3 feet of snow is no problem in just 2 wheel drive.

do you haul sap with this RTV? How much sap have people hauled with one of these?

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

PFF,
The box on a Kubota RTV is rated at 1100 lbs (that is the old model900, the new 1100 might be more). About 140 gallons of sap would weigh that. You might also tow some type of trailer to increase capacity. The RTV with tracks will really go places with little damage to the land (ie ruts etc.) but is pretty spendy. I'm only guessing here but I think near 20K if purchased new.

[Littlesap]

I just picked up a Polaris Ranger 6x6 used for about $5k. This is only my second year sugaring but expanding from 25 to 100-150 taps and wanted something to haul sap and plow my driveway. It is full time four wheel drive and can lock in to 6... hopefully it will not get stuck. Supposedly the 6x6 will haul 1200 pounds and tow a bit more than the 4x4 version. Thinking 6x6 with tires could be an option to a 4x4 with tracks. I got mine on Craigslist but also saw a lot of them on Ebay and Quadhunter.com.

[PoorFarmFarmer]

PFF,
The box on a Kubota RTV is rated at 1100 lbs (that is the old model900, the new 1100 might be more). About 140 gallons of sap would weigh that. You might also tow some type of trailer to increase capacity. The RTV with tracks will really go places with little damage to the land (ie ruts etc.) but is pretty spendy. I'm only guessing here but I think near 20K if purchased new.


Thanks for the info, that's a bit steep at this point, but it is tempting. We'll see how the next couple seasons go...

[ibby458]

I've got a 96 Yahama Kodiak 400 with ITP 589 tires and chains if I need them. **** near bullet proof. I hauled out over 100 cords of wood with it one winter, snow up to 4' in the drifts. Hit it hard and fast empty and let it freeze up. Once the muds over your boots, you're stuck. GET THE WINCH!

I haul 100 gallons of sap in a trailer, with no problems. Best to avoid making ruts but taking slightly different paths around wet spots.

I just bought a 700 EFI Polaris Ranger. GREAT ground clearance and stability. (Although anything can be tipped over if not driven properly) Use the seat belts and stay inside the cage and you'll be fine. I kinda wish I had bought a 6x6, but the turning radius isn't as good.

I'm planning on a 120 gallon tank in the back for this season, With a lower mounted dump station. I just bought the next door 1000 tap bush, but might not get closed on the deal soon enough to put tubing in, so this year's gonna be mini systems into barrels.

I think the belt drive system on ATVs and UTVs might be different from snowmobiles. The belts seem to last a LONG time, even under heavy use. 3 years seems to be the average.

[3rdgen.maple]

Ibby I think the belt drive is pretty much the same. The difference is with a snowmobile there is alot more torq on them. Never seen a atv hit 100 mph in seconds and yet to hit the throttle on a atv and it just about takes your breath away and throw you off the back. Im a big snowmobile tinkering fool. Hp to cc ratio is alot different as well as most are 2 stroke.

[Fred Henderson]

my Kubota RTV 900 carrys a 125 gal tank plus 2 people and is pushing the weight carrying capacity just about to the limit. True the RTV 1100's do run close to 20 K but beleive me the RTV 900 is the better machine. According to a top mechanic from Kubota the engineers tryed to do too much to the 1100 and ended up with a poorer machine. My 900 hauls all the sap from 500 taps and we are hauling sometimes a half a mile.

[johnallin]

For me it's a John Deere Trail Gator HPX. Not the fastest thing in the world - tops out at about 30mph - but it's quiet, has lots of power and I've never had it stuck. With four wheel high and low capabilities it's a beast. I think the bed capacity is around 950 lbs which is plenty for us.

[Fred Henderson]

For me it's a John Deere Trail Gator HPX. Not the fastest thing in the world - tops out at about 30mph - but it's quiet, has lots of power and I've never had it stuck. With four wheel high and low capabilities it's a beast. I think the bed capacity is around 950 lbs which is plenty for us.

I want to see what that Gator does in 3 feet of snow, which is what we had the year I got my tracks.

[johnallin]

You're right Fred , it does not too well if we get a fresh snow fall up near 2-3', but man that is a rare thing here.

But as long as I stay with it and keep a trail going I can knock down as much as a foot of new snow and not have any trouble. Let it get much more than that and it can be a challenge. I have a 6' snow blade and use it for the drives here, lots of power but the blade is too wide for the woods. To each his own I guess.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

my Kubota RTV 900 carrys a 125 gal tank plus 2 people and is pushing the weight carrying capacity just about to the limit. True the RTV 1100's do run close to 20 K but beleive me the RTV 900 is the better machine. According to a top mechanic from Kubota the engineers tryed to do too much to the 1100 and ended up with a poorer machine. My 900 hauls all the sap from 500 taps and we are hauling sometimes a half a mile.


And the last time I priced one of these(RTV 900) in orange, they were around $ 10,500 to $ 11,000 with hydraulic dump bed.

[Farmboy]

Today I just bought a Kawasaki bayou 400cc 4X4. I bought it from my neibor and got a good deal on it. I will be pulling a trailer with a tank in it for collecting sap. I need to get a winch for it. I am going to build a snowplow too. Now I need to sell my Honda 90cc quad.